Sectional filing cabinet



July 6,1926. 1,591,311

J. HKTFIELD 3110110111111 FILING 0113111111 v,

Filed, 001;. 16, 1924 INVENTOR Hatfield I P tented Jul s, 192 1 UNITED ATES SEOTIONAL FILING canines.

Application filed October s; 1924Serial at," 743,387.

My invent-ionrelates to filing cabinets or 7 like structures of the sectional type, in

front or face finish ofthe units or' boxes,

I ingfront face flanges of the integral mawhich two or any plurality of individual sections or boxes may be placed together to form a multiple stack or unit. The invention especially contemplates the use "of sheet metal as ,the preferred material of the structures, but in its broader aspects it is not necessarily limited in all cases to sheet metal, asother suitable sheet material may be employ.ed-.- In a more limited respect, however, as expressed in some ofthe appended claims, sheet'metal, usually steel, is employedltoprovidefor high resistanceto fire C. and water, and for other reasons mentioned below.

. The general bjec ts of the invention are: To so construct the cabinet sections or boxes, and especially their interlocking members and devices,of suitable sheet .material, usually metal, that the production cost'is very greatly reduced in comparisonwith structures'heretofore known, while providing at the same time for complete interchange:

" ability of the. units, their arrangement 1n any suitablefgroups,and the easy and rapid connection or lnterlockmg of the boxes at two or more achacent corners, and the easy release or unlocking of them for purposes of rearrangement; to providean attractive particularly bysuitably bending and formterial of the, box side, -'top, and bottom sheets; andto provide an improved'and economical rear box wall construction.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are 4 further suificiently explained in connection with the following detail de scription of the accompanying drawing, which show one exemplifying embodiment of the invention. 'After considering this embodiment, persons skilled in the art will understand that many variations may; be

made within'the t )rinciple sof :the inven tion, and I contemplatethe employment of.

may be identical.

Fig. 3. is a sectionyat 3-3, Fig.1 2. i

Fig. 4" is a section at' 4-4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5is a perspective view I witha part Figs. 6 and-7 are similar of other forms of lockingrods. 4 r F g. 8 is aiplan viewof a metal sheet in the flat, cut and ready for pressing to'form a box top or bottom wall. 4

Fig. 9 is a similar viewof a sheet ready for pressing toforma sidewall.

While/the invention is not limited in iei spect to the size ofthe individualunits,'andin fact the unitsare to be made inv a great HN HATFIELD, or-BALnw IN, new Yonin ing one complete box or unit and portions of 7 several ad acent units.

I broken away of oneform ofllocking device I conveniently called a rodi. a

range ofsi'zes, as sufliciently indicated fin- Fig. ,1, 1n theif orm chosen for illustration" the invention is especially'designed'for units of moderate size,- such as those intended to contain cards or similar records of inOderate area; but evidently with or without modification, the invention is "adapted-toboxes of any reasonable size, for example, those intended to hold drawers containing {letter or legal size folders orthe like." 'While the individual units or boxes aref'well adapted as here shown to receive drawers, theeme ployment of drawers 1s not necessary and the unit's orstacks may be used to contaln almost any kind of articles or commodities;

whether placed in drawers. or not.

Theftop and bottom walls of each unit or box are composedjo'f sheets S, Fig. 8, which The side walls are composed of sheets S Fig. 9, whichimay be identical. The rear wall consists of a sheet Rf 'For the-complete box therefore, only five sheet [metal parts are required, two of which, namely, thetop anddbottonr sheets may be of identical shapefland two others,

namely,- the side sheets, may also be iden tical, requiring'the production of only three sets of sheets SQS? and B for boxes of any given dimensions;

e ts S en of rectangular outline but are cornered, that i to sa ner pieces are cut out to form side "margins I l, a front margin 2 and a' rear margin these marginal portions 'or strips being sub sequently folded by' pressing operations, as.

indicated by dot-andl-dash lines. Sheets S are also cornered'to provide top and bottom marginalstrips 4, afront marginal strip bothby reason of'the simplicity and moderanda rearrmarginal strip 6', these also be ing, siibsequently folded pressing opera tions,"as sufficiently. indicated "by dot-anddashlines. The sheets and the complete structure are so devised that afteracntting, the sheets may be folded to final form by very simple operations, usual-ly'by a single pressing action with a single set of relatively simple and inexpensive dies. The cost of production isthns materially reduced,

ate amonnt of materials'empl'oyed, and .the

simplicity -ofthe manufacturing operations,

which entails a very moderate outlay for tool' equipment. V

Sheet-s S when =PIQSS6CL112LV8 shallow 'locjkingflanges 10 extending *at right angles to the" sheet body, these "flanges consisting of' the .margins '1 of the original sheet. The sheets also have front or face formations comprising vertical flangesor front welbs 11 and .intnrned webs. or ffianges 12 which are respectively at right angles and parallel to the main sheet'b'ody. :Attheir rear edges the sheets haye' inturned flanges or hooks 13 formed'from the margins 3.

'Each side sheet has a front formation comprising aniangnlar web 14, a front'web I5 extending at arightangle to the sheet, and an inturned wve'b16 parallel to the sheet body and spaced slightly fromi-t. :Each' of these sheets also has atits rear edge, an

inturned or hooked flange 17,; These Wales are produced'from the sheet margins '5 in stitute the side walls .of thebox which is open at the front and lback, andthe sheets S constitute the topandbottom walls.

The sheets Rr-constitnting'the hack walls are pressedor otherwise formed :in any su1table way with .righteangle marginal flanges I i 22. 1 all four sides. These flanges maybe continnons or. separated at their meeting,

ends. "Preferably, to providev forfb'etter .in-

teldooking of therearwalls with the side,

top and bottom walls, the opposite j'flanges' 22bit ithe back piece R are formed with roundedbeads 2.3, so arranged thatiwhen viewed from any position, such .as from the,

' bottom :of Fig.4, the concave faces of "the beadshfront thesame way. These beads or l ribs ,may .be pressed either I-in the top and bottom tor ,the two sides, or, as shown, in

all four of the "flanges of the back piece.

To correspond with these beadorrib forma tions mating ribs or beads .24: are formed in the top, bottom and slde sheets "Sand S the concave sides of the opposite beads also is fronting in the same direction; Flanges 1 and 4 of sheets S and S are sodimensioned i n the-original cornering operation that their rear ends 26 terminate considerably "forward of the hooked members 13,to provideroom for thebaclrplate flanges. 7

After the topfbottom and side walls have been connected by spot welding flanges 4 to the top and bottom sheetsfin such'positions thatrthe main sheets a'relocated slightely inward from looking flanges 10, as best shown in Fig. '4, :the ,rear ends or "back plates .are put in .position by tilting them and inserting them from the open front of ,the'box. By'tilting, the .beads'23 =andf24-of the back piece, the top and bottom plates respectively are brought into" registry, and the peripheral edges .of the flanges 122.;are then pushed under the "locking'tlanges 13 and 17, and if necessary 'these'flanges' or hooked margins maybe rolled'down tomore firmly secure the back ,plates;

In the cornering operations on sheets s V and S marginal strips 2 and 5 are sozdimens'ion-ed that when bent np as deseribed, the ends of these marginswiil'properly'abut. For example, as best shown in Fig. ,2the ends of the web -or flange portions 15 and 16 are dimensioned so they fit closely "against end portions of the "faces of the inturned flanges, '12; while the ends 'of' the webor flange portions 11 and '12 are "positioned to come inthe same planes as the outer faces of'the vertical side sheetsS 'lldiere is thus left at eachlongitudinal corner of 'each'b'ox,

a space 30 giving access to the locking flanges-10, this space being "large enough to accom1nodat e fthe locking; rod.

. Figs. 5,6 and 7' sufliciently showtliree 1 different forms locking rods L, L and L Other forms -may be provided when necessary or desirable. The forniL, as

shown in Fig.5, is for securingjtwo super- This rod may consist of asinglestrip of sheet metal, both longitudinal margins of which ,arebent over-to form hooks 31, these hookspreferably consisting ofvdistinct webs 32 and 33.,joining each other and the main outer web 34: with sharp angles or corners to correspond with 'thepreferred sharp bends which connectthe "locking flanges 10 with sheets S. kThisfis to provide co-operation of the flanges and hooks and permit free sliding of the docking rods intoposition" without jamming, but without appreciable play. At one end the space defined 'by the locking hooks is preferably closed by a; narrow end marginof-the main Web 34 bent at a right angle to form a flange 35. "This posed boxes together along their .meeting corners, as at the point P, Figs; 1 and 2. V 'i 7 1M:

' provides a smooth and sightly outer end adjacent boxes'as atrP in an ohviousway,

finish for therod., Wh'eri "any two ofthe sections or'boxes suchas B, Figs.' 1 and'2,

have been placed in superposed relation} they are secured togetherv at'adjacent corners by so placing the open or inner ends" of locking rods L as to properly co operate with the outerfends ofthe locking flanges 1-0, and then pushingthe rodin until its end flange encounters the ends of'the locking flanges. Flange 35 is then flush. with the facing webs 111'and 15, only a veryismall' or no appreciable Space vbeing left the pp r and lower ends of the flange 35;;-

To provide for interlocking whereffour' longitudinal box corners come together as'at P Figs. 1 and 2, a locking rod L is'provided, as shown in Fig. 7 ,which consists substantially of two of the rods L placedtogether back to, back and secured by spot welding or in any other suitable ways The locking hooks of this rod willco-operate.

with the four adjacent locking flanges 10 in away which will be obvious from inspection of Fig. 2. To-provide for cases where two boxes or sections are located side by side,;as at P Figs. 1 and 2, a rod L Fig. 6, is provided. This is in general similar to the rod L two of the locking hooks, however, being omitted and replaced by simple right angled flanges 40. .VVhen inserted to connect two the aligned flanges 40 form' a presentable outer finish or surface-at the line of box' intersection which is practically flush with the top or bottom box surfaces.

rangement of boxes of at least three, different sizes or dimensions B, B andB fWhere the vert1cal dimensions vary, as with respect to boxes B and B, or B and B the difierk ent dimensions are so related thatthe horizontal intersections of'superposed' boxes" in different. tiers will come together at intervals. V For instance, three superposed boxes B match with two superposed boxes B, and

five of the superposed boxes B match with four of'the boxes B5 In this way interlocking connection is provided at intermediate points between the different tiers of boxesor else 1 at least at the top and bottom of the stack when a reasonable number of boxes are placedin each t1er,and interlocking connection. is, of course, provided at each side of every superposed box in any tier. Any box 0r.boxes may be easily unlocked for rear- I rangement by pushing the locking rods out slightly from the back and then pulling them all-the way outfrom the front of the stack;

Evidently the front margi'ns'or face formations of the units may be varied consider'ably by 'differentibending of the marginal strips Qand 5, but the form shown is" pro-- ferr'ed in somecases. Particularly,the1nbent flanges 12 and '16 provide smooth guides at the front of thebox for a drawer, when a drawer is inserted. The bottom or thebottom edges of-the side rails of the drawer will slide on the lower flange 12', while; the sides of the drawer are guided by the vertical flanges 16., At the'back the drawer may themain surface of the bottom sheet S, this depending'draweri portion having adepth equal to the vertical distance between flange 12 andthe main sheet so as to maintain the drawer in horizontal position as itslides on the two points ofsupport." The depending.

stop 'co-operating with the edge of the lower fl'ange '1'2 to-prevent inadvertent withdrawal have a depending portion which will slide on T '85, .reariportio'n; of the drawer will also act as a of the drawers. The drawer structure is not illustrated, because suchstructures may vary greatly and the drawer proper does not form a part of'the present invention;

" While 'a great'manydifferent types or forms of sectional cabinets have beenv pro-1 posed or used, and some of these forms'or systems consist ofsheet .meta'l structures, they have .been unduly complicated and expensive,,or have involved the use of a num- I ber of bolts or OlJhGlTdGVlCQS whlchinvolve considerable time and labor, or are unduly complicated, for connecting them together. Sections or boxes and the interlocking-devicesmade in accordance with my inventionv however, require probably the least possible 1 1 i number of separate parts, which .may be economically-put together. with moderateshop equipment, and the locking devices are exceedinglyrsimple and easily manipulated SOihHt a large number of sections can be quickly put togetheror rearranged, without.

any risk oflosing small parts, such as bolts or. other small fastening devices' i v V I claim:-: 1

1. A-box-like unit adapted for sectional cabinet arrangements andcompr ising longi-.

tudinal walls in substantially rectangular arrangementptwo opposite walls'having at their longitudinal edgessubstantially hook shaped locking flanges spaced. slightly away from the other adjacent walls, the flanges at each side of the box structure being turned toward each other and being adapted,

when two of the boxes are placed together, to receiving locking rodsof generally chan- 'nel,'hooked formation which'hold the. backs ofthe locking flanges and the walls which carry themin immediate contact.

2. A unit for sectional cabinet arrangements composed ofmeta-l sheets and comprising opposite longitudinal walls having substantially smooth and flush outer snrfaces admitting tlie placing of a. similar Wall of 7; another unit annclose flush con-tact there} with, and also having inwardly directed substantially "hook shaped locking :flanges at their longitudinal edges, and two other opsite Walls tlocated slightly inward :froin the locking flanges to provlde clearance for locking. rod lne'mbers, two opposite :WfillS having their 'front margins bent to form vvebsprojectingdiagonally forwardandont- Ward, acfacing Webs lying in the plane of-the unit front, and flanges turned inward parallel to the main "Walls, the diagonal and front or facing Webs'being JQIIIECllOy edgeslocated approximately in the plane 'ofnthe :locking' flanges to form a close meeting line between adjacent boxes or sections. r v =4. Asheet 1netal section or unit forsectional cabinet arrangements," icomprising sheet ine'tal top-,ibottoin and side Walls :and a 'back wall'ha'vingiits marginsben-t to storm rightgangle 'flangesrilying against the top, bottom andside Walls, said walls'having inturned lnargin'al hook formations overlying theedgesOf the rear Wall -mar-gins, two opposite rear wall margins and adjacent portions of the corresponding longitudinal walls being beaded ein'a corresponding direct on to provide-for interfitting of the bead formations on adjacentsections."

5. A sectional filing cabinet system C0111- prising; a plurality ofindividnal boxes or units, each oifiv'hic h' comprises opposite longitudinal alls "having I substantially smooth and flii'sh outer surfaces admitting the placing of aisimilarivall of another unit in close flush contact therewith, and also having inwardly directed locking hooks at their longitudinal edges, andtwo other opposite "Walls having intnrned flanges secured to the. Walls firstmentioned, with said other opposite wells located "slightly inward from A sectional the locking hooks to provideclearance vfor locking red members, and locking rods ofsheet metal having their longitudinal man gins bent to form longitudinal hoo kstocm operate with the locking "hooks of 7 adjacent sections.

tin-its, each of which comprises opposite long tudinal*Walls having locking tlanges at their longitudinalwedges, the loclxingfianges ziteach side ot the box structure being turned toivardeachother, and twjoother opposite RJflll-S having inturned flanges secured to the WElil-S firstinentioned; with said other opposite walls located slightly inward from,

the locking "flanges to provide clearance for locking rod ineinbersycertain of vthe walls having theirrfront margins bent to provide facingstrips and inturned guide flanges at the trontofthe box or unit, and locking rods or sheet nieta'i "having their longitudlnal lnarginsbent to forinlongitndinal hooksto the locking flanges 10f aid-1acooperate with cent sections. Y r

. .7. A sect onal fihng cabinet systemcolnprising :a plurality of individual boxesflor' units, each of which comprises opposite longitiidinal walls having locking-flanges at their longitudinal edges, the locking "flanges atopposi-te sides of the box structure being turned toward each other, and twor-other opposite \valls'having inturned flanges secured to the Walls first mentioned, ivith said other opposite Wall-s located slightly inward from the locking flanges to provide clearance for locking rod members, 'tWo opposite W-allshaving their front margins bent to form Webs projecting diagonally forward and outwarchother facing Webs lying in the plane oftherbox or section front, and flanges turned inward parallel to the --1nain Walls, the diagonal and'front or facing Webs being joined byedges located approximately in-the-plane ottheflocking fiangesto form-a v filing, cabinet systen'i coniprising a plurality of individnal'boxes or close meeting line between adjacent nnits,

and locking rods of shectirnetal having their longitudinal ma gins bent to form longitudinal hooks to cooperate with the locking' tl'anges'of-adjacent sections. 7 Signed at New York in the connty o-t' New York and State otNeW York this 14th dayof OctoberA. D. 1924.

"Jenn HATFIELD. 

